Excerpt from Danville, Montour County, Pennsylvania: A Collection of Historical and Biographical Sketches In the list of secular studies history is among the most interesting and the most important. Indeed, there seems to be an almost universal desire to lift the misty veil of the past, and to note the changing scenes that mark the progress of Adams family through all the centuries past and gone. Not alone to satisfy the cravings of a curiosity that is commendable, but because the richest lessons of wisdom are drawn from the experience of the past. Still more interesting and important is the general, and, especially, the biographical history of our own locality. Here, with emotions of strange delight we trace the stern, heroic lives of the pioneers, and with ever-increasing interest watch the growing fields succeed the forest, pleasant homes supplant the rude log cabin, and the development of society as it joins the onward march to a higher civilization. On the other hand, there is a desire no less universal to be remembered by those who come after us. Thus prompted, men have sought out the most enduring material by which to transmit their names and achievements down the ages. They have reared monuments of granite, carved their deeds on the solid marble, and written their names on the everlasting rocks. But all those have yielded to the corroding power of Time, and their moldering remnants become the subjects of uncertain speculation to the antiquarian. Written history is the great conservator of the past and the most enduring memorial for the ages to come. The wondrous tower on the plains of Shinar is leveled with the dust from which it rose, and the glory of Babylon is shrouded in darkness. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.